Foreign Law Selectors Interest Group
Sample Collection Profiles:
Lillian Goldman Law Library
Yale Law School
Box 8215
New Haven, CT 06520-8215
Description of Foreign and International Collection
The Lillian Goldman Law Library comprising 1.4 million volumes has an extensive collection of foreign, comparative and international legal materials. It has over 200,000 monographs in the major western European languages, as well as Slavic, and has a growing collection of Chinese language materials. Collection strengths in foreign law include the civil law jurisdictions of France, Germany, Italy and Spain as well as the common law jurisdictions of Australia, Canada, India and the United Kingdom. There are also growing Chinese and Latin American (especially, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Peru and Venezuela) collections. Collection emphases include constitutional law, environmental law, and legal history. There is also a wide range of serials and primary sources including codes, legislation and court reports.
The Law Library participates in the Library of Congress Cooperative Program for East Africa, India, the Middle East (English and French titles), and Pakistan. It maintains approval plans with Esteva ( Mexico), Garcia Cambeiro ( Argentina and Brazil), and Harrassowitz ( Germany).
In support of the China Law Center, the Library subscribes to a number of Chinese online journals and fee-based databases: China Academic Journals, China Business Review, China Development Brief, China Law Info, China Lawyee Court Cases Database, China Online, Far Eastern Economic Review, Isinolaw, Inside China Today, South China Morning Post, and Wan Fang Data. As of October, 2007, additional Foreign law online databases include Africa Yearbook, AllAfrica.com, Constitutions of the World and Constitutions of Dependencies and Territories, International Law in Domestic Courts, IndLaw (India), Juris (Germany), Justis (England),Lawtel, Manupatra (India), Parliament Rolls of Medieval England, Takdinet (Israel), and vLex (Spain).
The international collection is stronger in public international law, particularly humanitarian law and human rights, than in private international law, but there is a recent focus on the latter particularly on trade and corporate law. The library maintains the READEX law library of United Nations documentation. In addition to the print materials, there is a microform collection and a growing number of on-line fee-based data-bases, including Access UN, American Foreign Relations Since 1600, National Law Center for Inter-American Free Trade, Transnational Dispute Management, United Nations Official Documents System, and Worldtradelaw.net
The Law Library also develops collections in comparative law, Ancient Greek and Roman law, Canon, Islamic and Judaic law, and a sizable collection of materials relating to international relations and contemporary international legal issues.
It is important to note that the Law Library’s collections are supplemented and augmented by the strong legal collections in the Sterling Memorial Library collection, www.library.yale.edu , and that the Law Library maintains a separate catalog, Morris (http://morris.law.yale.edu/)
The Yale Law School Foreign, International & Transnational Research Guide may be found at . http://www.law.yale.edu/library/firesources.asp
Inquiries about the guide should be sent to Teresa Miguel at teresa.miguel@yale.edu.
Rare Book Collection
Half or more of the collections in the Paskus-Danziger Rare Book Room are foreign and international in nature. Chief among these are the holdings in English law, a traditional strength of the Law Library. The William Blackstone Collection is the world's largest collection of the works of Sir William Blackstone (1723-1780), author of Commentaries on the Laws of England, the most influential book in the Anglo-American common law tradition. All of the significant works and genres of English common law are well represented.
Another strength is Roman and canon law, which form the basis for modern European law and many of the world’s other legal systems. The deposit of the Roman and Canon Law Collection of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York (1,600 volumes) greatly enhances collection strengths in this field.
The collection of early Italian statutes and ordinances is one of the largest in the U.S., rivaling the collection at the Library of Congress. It contains over 800 volumes, including 55 manuscripts and a dozen incunables. These collections of local laws, or statuta, are rich sources of legal, social and economic history for the various city-states and territories that eventually formed the Italian nation.
Also prominent in the collection is a strong selection of the classic works in international law, the law merchant, and maritime law, including over 30 editions of Hugo Grotius’ classic The Rights of War and Peace ( De jure belli et pacis ).
Databases Created by the Library
The library hosts three digital projects bearing on foreign and international law. The Avalon Project at Yale Law School (http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/avalon.htm) hosts digital documents relevant to the fields of law, history, economics, politics, diplomacy, and government. The Curiae Project (http://curiae.law.yale.edu/) features direct links to information about the most commonly cited Supreme Court cases and access to Supreme Court records and briefs. The South African Truth and Reconciliation Videotape Collection (http://www.law.yale.edu/trc/) features eighty-four episodes of news broadcasts assembled by journalist Max Du Preez covering the history and activities of the Commission. Another related database maintained by the Yale Law School is Project Diana (http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/diana/index.html), a human rights archive at Yale that includes human rights case law decisions and human rights treaties.
Centers and Clinics
Jerome N. Frank Legal Service Organization (LS0):
LSO provides legal representation to individuals and organizations in need of legal help but unable to afford private attorneys. Students, supervised by Law School faculty members and participating attorneys, interview clients, write briefs, prepare witnesses,
try cases, negotiate settlements, draft documents, participate in commercial transactions, and argue appeals in state and federal courts, including the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and the Connecticut Supreme Court. ( Yale Law School Bulletin 2006-2007)
China Law Center:
The China Law Center carries out research and teaching, promotes academic exchanges with China, and undertakes a variety of cooperative projects on important issues in Chinese law and policy reform. Since its establishment in 1999, the China Law Center has become the preeminent institution in the United States working with Chinese counterparts to advance the rule of law in China. ( Yale Law School Bulletin 2006-2007)
Orville H. Schell, Jr., Center for International Human Rights:
International human rights practitioners rarely have the opportunity to consider the theoretical issues that their work entails, while scholars studying human rights lack a forum for interdisciplinary dialogue. At the same time, law students are eager to apply the lessons that they are learning in the classroom to further the cause of human rights. The Schell Center addresses these needs by seeking to increase knowledge and understanding of international human rights issues; equip lawyers and other professionals with the skills
needed to advance the cause of international human rights; and assist human rights organizations (Yale Law School Bulletin 2006-2007)
Allard K Lowenstein International Human Rights Law Clinic:
The Clinic is a Law School course that gives students firsthand experience in human rights advocacy under the supervision of international human rights lawyers. The clinic undertakes a number of litigation, research, and advocacy projects each term on behalf of human rights organizations and individual victims of human rights abuse. The clinic has worked in cases in U.S. federal courts, the U.N. system, and regional human rights bodies including the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights. It has also drafted legislation, amicus briefs, manuals, and human rights reports. ( Yale Law School Bulletin 2006-2007)
Law Reviews:
Yale Human Rights and Development Law Journal
Yale Journal of International Law
Yale Law Journal
Faculty:
For introduction to the “ New Haven School” see “The New Haven School” in Beck, Robert J., Anthony Clark Arend and Robert D. Vandeer Lugt, International Rules: Approaches from Internationa Law and International Relations, New York, Oxford University Press, 1996.
Continental Legal Historians:
John Langbein:
Prosecuting Crime in the Renaissance: England, Germany, France (1974)
Origins of Adversary Criminal Trial (2003)
Torture and the Law of Proof: Europe in the Ancient Regime (2006)
James Q. Whitman:
Legacy of Roman Law in the German Romantic Era: Historical Vision and Legal Change (1990)
Harsh Justice: Criminal Punishment and the Widening Divide Between America and Europe (2003)
The Origins of Reasonable Doubt: The Theological Roots of the Criminal Trial (2007)
Comparative Law:
Mirjan Damaska:
Comparative Law: Cases, Texts and Materials, by Rudolf Schlesinger et al. (5 th ed. 1994)
Il diritto delle prove alla deriva (2003)
Gewirtz, Paul:
Director of China Law Center
Global Constitutionalism 1996-
Law’s Stories: Narrative and Rhetoric in the Law, with Peter Brooks (1996)
Rose-Ackerman, Susan:
International Handbook on the Economics of Corruption (2006)
From Election to Democracy: Building Accountable Government in Hungary and Poland (2005)
Foreign Law:
Bruce A. Ackerman:
The Rise of World Constitutionalism (1997)
Before the Next Attack: Preserving Civil Liberties in the Age of Terrorism (2006)
Stone-Sweet, Alec:
Governing with Judges: Constitutional Politics in Europe (2000)
The Judicial Construction of Europe (2004)
International Law:
Harold Koh, Dean:
Deliberative Democracy and Human Rights with Ronald C. Slye (1999)
Foundations of International Law and Politics with Oona Hathaway (2005)
Lea Brilmayer:
Justifying International Acts (1989)
American Hegemony: Political Morality in a One-Superpower World (1994)
Amy Chua:
World on Fire: How Exporting Free Market Democracy Breeds Ethnic Hatred and Global Instability (2003)
Day of Empire: How Hyperpowers Rise to Global Dominance and Why They Fail (2007)
Daniel Esty:
Green to Gold: How Smart Companies Use Environmental Strategy to Innovate, Create Value, and Build Competitive Advantage, with Andrew S. Winston (2006)
Global Environmental Governance: Options and Opportunities, with Maria Inanova (2002)
Oona Hathaway:
Foundations of International Law and Politics with Harold Koh (2005)
Paul Kahn:
Director of Lowenstein Human Rights Clinic
Out of Eden: Adam and Eve and the Problem of Evil (2007)
W. Michael Reisman:
International Incidents: The Law That Counts in World Politics (1988)
International Law in Contemporary Perspective (2004)
James Silk:
Associate Director of Lowenstein Human Rights Clinic
Judaic Law (Course on Job)
Robert A. Burt:
Two Jewish Justices: Outcasts in the Promised Land (1988)
Death is That Man Taking Names: Intersection of American Medicine, Law and Culture (2002)
Selectors:
Fred Shapiro: American Law, Social Sciences and Humanities, and Electronic Resources
203-432-4840, fred.shapiro@yale.edu
Bonnie Collier: American Legal History
203-432-7228, bonnie.collier@yale.edu
Dan Wade: Continental Europe except Spain and Portugal, Africa, Middle East, South Asia, Comparative, International, Judaic, Islamic, Canon and Roman Law in foreign languages
203-432-1615, daniel.wade@yale.edu
Mark Engsberg: Canada, Australia, and New Zealand
203-432-7371, mark.engsberg@yale.edu
Teresa Miguel: Iberia, Latin America and the Carribean
203-432-8023, teresa.miguel@yale.edu
John Nann: European Union, Ireland, United Kingdom
203-432-1259, john.nann@yale.edu
Camilla Tubbs: Global Women’s Issues
203-432-7535, camilla.tubbs@yale.edu
Mike Widener: Rare Books and Canon and Roman
203-432-4494, mike.widener@yale.edu
last updated May 14, 2008